Midland’s new-ish Mobile/portable repeater

[giantfuton]

Midland is releasing a portable/mobile repeater (a rebranded Retevis essentially). You can search repeater on the Midland website and it will come up as the MXR10.  
 

Has anyone ever used one of these for car camping or field work? Could be a useful item in some cases.

 

GF

[OffRoaderX]

They wont be for sale until the 18th so nobody has one..... I have one, but i cant talk about it until the 18th..

[giantfuton]

Looking forward to your next video. Congratulations on the channels growth in 2022

 

GF

[WRAM370]

On 1/7/2023 at 10:24 PM, OffRoaderX said:

They wont be for sale until the 18th so nobody has one..... I have one, but i cant talk about it until the 18th..

 

No one has one? 

https://youtu.be/HJN62_km4dY 

[gortex2]

28 minutes ago, WRAM370 said:

 

No one has one? 

https://youtu.be/HJN62_km4dY 

They have not been sold to public yet. The folks with one were shipped it to test and trial ahead of time. 

[kerstuff]

Hmm, looks suspiciously like a rebranded Retevis 97 to me!!

[SteveShannon]

5 minutes ago, kerstuff said:

Hmm, looks suspiciously like a rebranded Retevis 97 to me!!

Those Cable TV enclosures are available to everyone!  The real test will be what's on the inside.

[wayoverthere]

4 hours ago, kerstuff said:

Hmm, looks suspiciously like a rebranded Retevis 97 to me!!

Whaaaat? Midland has never rebranded another manufacturer's gear to sell under it's own name....right?

[Wrvq441]

Interesting video.

I wonder if the power output is the same or greater than the Retevis.

[timclark82]

5 hours ago, Wrvq441 said:

Interesting video.

I wonder if the power output is the same or greater than the Retevis.

Specs say the Midland is 10W. I think the only part 95 accepted amp is 20W and after the duplexer it will be 10W. I may be wrong though.

[gortex2]

Sorry posted another thread. Forgot this one was there. The Midland and TR97 is 10 watts. Although I dont have one to open and look at it appears the same unit. Most likely the same unit. Software looks very similar to the RT97 software. 

[timclark82]

On 1/18/2023 at 10:35 AM, timclark82 said:

Specs say the Midland is 10W. I think the only part 95 accepted amp is 20W and after the duplexer it will be 10W. I may be wrong though.

So it looks like the radio is 10W, and after the duplexer it is around 5W which is the same as the Retevis I think.

[SteveShannon]

12 minutes ago, timclark82 said:

So it looks like the radio is 10W, and after the duplexer it is around 5W which is the same as the Retevis I think.

It’s manufactured by the same manufacturer as the Retevis RT97s and appears to have the same specs. 
Notarubicon’s measurements reflect a power output of about 6 watts after the duplexer, which was within half a watt of the Retevis. 

[coopthink]

I just got the MXR10 today and have also commented on Notarubicon's excellent YouTube video. I'm only getting ~3.7 watts into a dummy load across all repeater channels, which is similar to the RT97 that I used to have. I got rid of the RT97 due to the low power, but I missed it due to the portability. I'll hang on to the MXR10, but would be interested in more real world power measurements from other users.

[OffRoaderX]

45 minutes ago, coopthink said:

I'm only getting ~3.7 watts into a dummy load across all repeater channels,

Are you sure you're on high-power? Both my retevis and the Midland get 5-6W ..

[coopthink]

1 hour ago, OffRoaderX said:

Are you sure you're on high-power? Both my retevis and the Midland get 5-6W ..

Thanks for the quote/reply! Yeah, I double checked the programming and strangely, I get the same ~3.7 watts on high and low power. The same thing happened on my RT97. I only have one meter, the MFJ-849, but it seems pretty accurate on all the other radios I've tested. Even the 3.7 watts is good for my camping, kayaking, skiing and other outdoor mobile uses, so it will work, but it's just strange that I'm getting such low power. I mean, close to 5 watts after the duplexer, I could understand, but no idea. I might pick up another meter and see what I get.

[coopthink]

As a follow up, I picked up another meter on Amazon overnight (Surecom SW-102S) and found that it reads ~5.31 watts into a dummy load, which is acceptable. I think that my MFJ-849 has a problem; although it seems pretty accurate at higher wattages. I think that the repeater is fine and that I need to send back the MFJ meter, if possible.

[WRQC475]

So Midland boasts 10 watts output (and in parentheses, notes less duplexer loss.). The Retevis states 5 watts.  

Is it fair to assume that these two radios are in essence the same under the skin, with no difference on final output power? 

Thank,

 

Joe in NJ

WRQC475

WA2OE

[Guest]

Most people will never notice the difference in 5w to 10w.  Plus it can all be made up in the antenna anyway.  Low loss coax with a good antenna will fix the 5w difference.  
 5w output 20’ of lmr400 and a 12dbgain antenna your radiating about 70w

10w output with the same set up your radiating 140w.  
 

yes the 140w is better but 70w radiating is a lot of power.  
 

considering a 5w ht with a 771 will get 30plus miles line of sight 70w line of sight will do very well.  So in the end get which ever one suits your budget and needs